New Aetna Tool Helping Small Businesses Understand Tax Credit Opportunities

HARTFORD, Conn., February 09, 2011 — Most small business owners barely have 15 minutes to eat lunch. That means they probably don’t have time to go through thousands of pages of federal legislation to see how it impacts their business. With time at a premium, Aetna (NYSE: ΑET) recently launched a small business “tax credit calculator.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, small businesses can qualify for a tax credit that can help them to offer health care coverage for the first time or enable them to maintain the coverage they currently have. While they must work with the IRS to determine if they are eligible for the tax credit, this tool* can help small business owners estimate the available tax credits within minutes. They simply need to provide a few details on their business:

• The number of full time equivalent employees
• Total annual wages
• Total employer premiums
• Whether or not their business is a tax exempt organization

“We want to make it easy for small businesses to find out if they are eligible for these tax credits,” said Dale Cook, head of Aetna Small Group. “By helping small business owners understand the cost of health benefits, we can help them choose the right health plan for their business and their employees.”

The tax credit calculator page includes general standards that small businesses must meet to qualify for the tax credits, as well as additional resources and documents from the IRS that small business owners can use to learn more about these tax credits. According to Cook, this page has been the most popular on the Aetna Avenue website for small businesses since its recent launch.

“Small businesses are looking for updated information on how health care reform legislation impacts their businesses,” Cook said. “We have heard from small business owners and brokers that the tax credit calculator meets that need for an important aspect of the legislation.”

In addition to the tax credit calculator, the Aetna Avenue website includes details on small business plan options and the ability to quickly get a quote; links to other Aetna tools such as DocFind, where members can find health care providers in Aetna’s network; and information on the Aetna Resource Connection, which gives participating small businesses access to discounts on a variety of services.

About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 35.3 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com. To learn more about Aetna's innovative online tools, visit www.aetnatools.com.

* This tool is provided for convenience and education concerning a small employer's tax credit. This tool is not intended to provide tax or legal advice, and the information provided should not be relied on without first consulting a tax professional regarding the final amount, and any questions relating to the unique circumstances of a small employer.

The tool provides an approximation of the tax credit based on the questions answered, the data provided, and the information currently available to the public from the IRS regarding the tax credit. A more detailed analysis by a tax professional may result in a different amount or might result in no credit.